Matthew kindly took us on a tour of the area around Chatsworth and to the Derwent resevoir. This was where the famous 'Dambusters' practised for their World War II mission. The dams were magnificient but unfortunately the 'Dambusters' museum was closed. We will just have to go again when it is open!!!
We also took a trip the National Memorial Aboretum at Burton. Well worth a visit. There are many, many memorial areas,to victims of war, for our emergency services, and many others. The Police Memorial section was a particularly poingnat place of reflection.Police Credit Union Ltd had been invited to sponsor a centre piece for the garden and, in conjunction with Hertfordshire Police Federation, a blue police lamp has been sited in the middle of the garden.
The blue lamp had stood at the front of Hitchin Police Station in Hertfordshire, and it was dedicated to the memory of Mandy Rayner. Mandy was killed on October 13, 1982 when the police vehicle in which she was the observer was deliberately rammed by an offender. Mandy had joined the police service on June 21, 1982, aged 18 years and six months. She came into the service straight from the cadets, and had been out of training school for just five weeks at the time of her death.
We were particularly impressed with the The Children's Woodland area which is planted with 2,640 Native British trees, designed to combine arboriculture and wildlife with rememberance. Individual trees have been sponsored by families and schools and dedicated to babies and children who have passed away. Between the trees are large child-sized wooden figures of the characters from 'Wind in the Willows'.
Well worth a visit, a legacy for generations to come.
We returned home and our farm sitters reported no problems so we now return to paddock maintenance and animal husbandry.
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